Half a block from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Eastern Parkway, pre-war six-story elevator buildings used to trade at sub-4 percent cap rates before the 2019 rent laws rewrote the playbook. Isaac Hera's Yellowstone Real Estate stepped in with Aaron Jungreis brokering the off-market match, buying the 84-unit Art Deco building at 1045 Union Street for $18.75 million ($250 a foot, or $223,214 a door)—a 30 percent reset from 2016. When the deed closed on February 9, 2026, Yellowstone Real Estate Investments (Isaac Hera) had officially taken down 1045 Union Street from Chestnut Holdings for $18.75 million, with Rosewood Realty Group (Aaron Jungreis) brokering the trade.

Look past the headline figure and the story is all about the basis reset. The 75,000-square-foot building last traded in December 2016 for $26.8 million. Stepping in at $250 a square foot—or $223,214 a door across its 84 apartments— shaves 30.0 percent off that prior valuation, giving Yellowstone Real Estate Investments (Isaac Hera) a margin of safety that would have been unthinkable at the top of the cycle. Even better for the buyers, the in-place rent roll hands them a verified 7.00 percent going-in cap rate from day one.

Buying Crown Heights Brick at a 7.0 Percent Cap Rate

The real tell in any Brooklyn closing sits on the debt side of the ledger. To fund the purchase, Yellowstone Real Estate Investments (Isaac Hera) locked in a $12.19 million senior bank acquisition mortgage from Flagstar / NYCB Commercial at 65 percent loan-to-value.

That loan commitment meant the buyers only needed to write a $6.56 million equity check to control a 6-story, 1936-vintage Crown Heights asset. Credit committees aren't stretching to 75 percent leverage anymore, but when a sponsor brings $6.56 million of real cash equity and a basis of $250 a square foot, lenders like Flagstar / NYCB Commercial are wide open for business.

From Our Desk

When we look at 1045 Union Street on our placement desk at Light Tower Group, the lesson for New York sponsors comes down to the marriage of entry basis and lender selection. Yellowstone Real Estate Investments (Isaac Hera) didn't try to fight the tape—they bought Crown Heights footage at $250 a square foot and paired it with the exact lender bucket built for this business plan. At $250 a square foot opposite the Botanic Garden, Yellowstone is buying irreplaceable pre-war masonry for a third of replacement cost and locking in a 7 percent cash yield from day one.